Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

University of North Florida Athletics

JT Escobar dribbles the basketball
Dave Donoher
85
North Florida UNF 0-3
95
Winner VCU VCU 2-0
North Florida UNF
0-3
85
Final
95
VCU VCU
2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Florida UNF 45 40 85
VCU VCU 50 45 95

Next Game:

at Florida

11/16/2017 | 7 p.m.

SEC Network

Next Game

Full Schedule
Nov. 16 (Thu) / 7 p.m.
at Florida
History

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | North Florida Athletics

Ospreys Drain 17 Treys in Tough Road Loss at VCU

QUICK GLANCE
Score: North Florida 85, VCU 95 
Records: North Florida (0-3) | VCU (2-0)
Location: Wade Arena/Siegel Center (Richmond, Va.)
The Short Story: The "Birds of Trey" lived up to their name Monday night as the North Florida men's basketball team connected on 17 three-pointers in hard fought 95-85 loss at VCU. Newcomer JT Escobar paced the long distance barrage draining seven triples en route to a career high 23 point effort.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore PDF | Full Game Book

OPENING TIP
- JT Escobar netted the squad's first 20-point effort of the season going 8-14 from the field (7-11 3PM) to tally 23 points
- The Ospreys other four starters also reached double digits: Garrett Sams (18), Ivan Gandia-Rosa (14), Wajid Aminu (12), Noah Horchler (10)
- UNF out-rebounded the Rams, 44-42, behind double-digit caroms for Aminu (12) and Sams (10)
- For the game, North Florida shot 42.5% (17-40) from behind the 3-point arc
- The Rams were led by 27 points and 8 rebounds from Justin Tillman
- VCU outscored the Ospreys, 16-4 from the FT line and 56-30 in the paint

GAME CAPSULE
First Half Trends
- Opening 20 minutes featured 5 times and 4 lead changes
- VCU scored 8 of the first 10 points and built their largest lead of the first half (16-8) just five minutes into play | Escobar hit the first two treys of his night to keep UNF in the game
- North Florida responded with a 16-7 surge of its own to gain the lead for the first time of the night (24-23) with 11:30 left in the period | Escobar added three more triples along with a trey by Osborn Blount and four points from Wajid Aminu in the stretch
- The score remained a one-possession margin for the remainder of the half before the Rams broke a 43-43 tie late in the stanza with a 7-2 closing spurt
- VCU missed its first 7 three-point attempts before Issac Vann beat the buzzer to give the home team the 50-45 halftime advantage
- Quick Stats: VCU - 60.5 FG%, 12.5 3PT%, 50.0 FT% | UNF -  44.4 FG%, 50.0 3PT% (9-18), 100.0 FT%

Second Half Trends
- VCU doubled its lead just three minutes into the second period
- The Ospreys refused to fold and continued battling and eventually trimmed the deficit to three points (88-85) with 2:56 remaining
- The Rams converted free throws in the closing minute to remain undefeated at home
- Quick Stats: VCU 41.2 FG%, 50.0 3PT%, 72.2 FT% | UNF - 39.0 FG%, 36.4 3PT%, 00.0 FT%

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- #BirdsofTrey 17 3PM came up just short of the program record of 20 set against NJIT
- Wajid Aminu (12P/12R) and Garrett Sams (18P/10R) recorded their first double-doubles of the season | Marked Sams' first career dbl-dbl and was Aminu's 6th
- Noah Horchler posted his first career double-figure scoring total | Also had 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and a steal
- VCU had 24 FTA compared to just 4 FTA for UNF including no shots from the charity stripe in the second half
- Five Ospreys made a trey with six player recording a long distance attempt
- Freshman Ryan Burkhardt made his collegiate debut in the first half

FROM THE TOP:
"If you are a fan of college basketball than you loved watching this game with all the three-pointers and fast paced play. I was proud of how resilient the guys played and never broke to the VCU pressure. Give credit to VCU's players for also staying relentless and not allowing us to ever catch our breath, which is a credit to their coaching staff and the players. We did a good job of defending the arc. The little details make the biggest differences and we still have a few things we just need to work on and clean-up moving forward." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
- North Florida returns home to the "Sunshine State" to play its fourth consecutive road contest with a match-up at No. 7 Florida on Thursday night.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Osborn Blount

#10 Osborn Blount

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Educational Leadership
Benedikt Haid

#50 Benedikt Haid

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
International Business
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

G/F
6' 6"
Sophomore
Business Management
Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Exploratory
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

G
6' 4"
Freshman
Exploratory
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#21 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Sport Management

Players Mentioned

Osborn Blount

#10 Osborn Blount

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Educational Leadership
G
Benedikt Haid

#50 Benedikt Haid

6' 5"
Sophomore
International Business
G
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

6' 6"
Sophomore
Business Management
G/F
Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

6' 8"
Sophomore
Exploratory
F
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

6' 4"
Freshman
Exploratory
G
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#21 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

6' 1"
Sophomore
Sport Management
G